"Whaaaaat?!!!!" They shouted at Hongjoong "it was supposed to be after two days, because of the coronation" Seonghwa told him "the coronation is after three days, we'll move tonight, understood?" He ordered glaring at them "Aye Captain!!!" They shouted and started running all over the deck.
Neil heard rumble on the deck, he woke up feeling warm, he is completely dried with new clothes and a heavy mattress on him, he tried to sit straight, but stopped midway when he felt pain in his stomach, his memory of what happened was vivid, he can barely remember what had happened, he forced himself to sit and put his legs down on the floor, he walked to the door and opened it, everyone was running all over the deck.
Wooyoung was loading the rifles and the guns, Seonghwa was moving boxes with Mingi, Jongho and Yeosang, Yunho and Valerie were following San off the ship towards the forest "what's going on?" He asked leaning on the frame of the door "you should rest" Hongjoong stood before him "we'll take it from here" he told him holding his shoulders "no, I want to help" he refused, Hongjoong was having doubts "please, I should participate in this, or else, I won't be able to move on" he pleaded to him.
Hongjoong stood there silent for a while, he sighed and put a hand on his head "Wooyoung's going to kill me" he said confusing Neil "fine" he said making him happy "but you'll stick with me, no matter what happens" he told him and he nodded "good, now go rest until we go" he said turning him around and helped him back to his bed.
San led Valerie and Yunho towards the monsters hideout, it was deep in the forest and hard to find "be careful of the branches" San warned them after being hit by one "you are the one who should be careful" Valerie corrected him and Yunho chuckled at him.
"We are here" San said standing in front of an open space, there's a big ice lack in the middle with bushes surrounding it, they felt movement coming from them, Yunho and Valerie got ready for a fight, but San stopped them and walked forward "hey, it's me!!" He shouted, and soon enough, a bunch of enormous wolves jumped on him, San fell on his back while they were licking his face.
The wolves were black and the size of a human, their eyes were yellow, they looked cute.
Yunho and Valerie stood dumbfounded, they tried to find San under the pile of wolves, but they just couldn't "San, can you hear me?!!!" Yunho shouted so he can hear him, a hand was visible from under the pile of wolves.
The wolves stood aside letting San breath, his hair was a mess, he looked at Valerie and Yunho and motioned for them to come closer.
They went close to them and the wolves started showing affection towards them "they are friendly" San told them and they started patting them "they are so cute" Valerie said rubbing a wolf's head "they agreed on helping us after they meet Neil, we'll be riding them until we arrive at the palace, oh, and there's another condition" San said "and what is it?" Yunho asked still patting "to let them eat some soldiers" he told them "well, if Neil doesn't mind, they are his people after all" Yunho said rubbing one's belly "let them eat the minister's soldiers" Valerie told them "let's go back now" Yunho told them, and San told the wolves to follow them.
They arrived at the ship to find the rest ready to depart, Neil was standing next to Hongjoong surprising the three of them "is he coming?" San asked standing in front of Hongjoong "yes, but he mustn't leave my side" he told them, Wooyoung and Yeosang weren't that much enthusiastic about the idea.
San let one wolf stand in front of Hongjoong, Neil hid behind him "they want to meet you" San told Neil surprising him "why me?" He asked standing next to Hongjoong "they said that they were friends with the first emperor, and after he died, they vowed to protect the emperial family, and they wanted to make sure you are one of them" San explained, one wolf came closer to Neil and started sniffing him, soon enough, it started howling and so did the others "they confirmed you are from the imperial family" San said smiling widely and Neil smiled at them.
Yunho ran to Neil and started asking him questions "how is your body?" He asked putting a hand on his forehead "there's a little pain, but I don't remember what happened after the minister left, except when Yeosang sat in front of me" he told Yunho confused, Yunho sighed "it's fine, your brain is just protecting you from a painful memory" he told him "will it come back?" He asked worriedly "it might come back at anytime, but you also need to remember what happened after it, which is this" he assured him and he nodded in understanding.
San gave each member a wolf, Mingi was terrified to pat one, but soon he adjusted to them, Hongjoong shared a wolf with Neil "oh right" San said getting their attention "what's wrong?" Seonghwa asked "they agreed to help in exchange of eating some soldiers, is that ok?" He asked Neil "after we finish, I'll give them the soldiers they'll eat" he told San and translated to the wolves, one of them nodded, it looked like their leader, it was San's wolf.
"Is everyone ready?" Hongjoong asked getting on the back of a wolf with Neil behind him hugging him from behind "Aye Captain!!!" They shouted "then let's go!!" He shouted and the wolves started running towards the capital.
The wolves were faster than a normal horse "that's amazing!!" Wooyoung shouted, they crossed the forest and into the hidden passage, they passed it faster than the last time and went into the first floor of the imperial palace.
They got off the wolves when they entered the palace "We depart here!!" Hongjoong shouted and they split, Hongjoong with Yeosang, Mingi and Jongho took the right and the rest took the left.
"first, we need to find the vice minister, she doesn't know of the prime minister doings" Neil explained in Hongjoong's cabin "if we gave her the evidence of the minister's manipulation on the imperial family, she'll place an order to arrest him with his subordinates" he explained to them "the next person, is the head general of the imperial army, Marcus Franklin, he has enough manpower to take down the minister's soldiers, give him the letters that was given to Seonghwa from his spies, they have the names of the traitors, and if anyone stood in your way, kill them"
Hongjoong cut one soldier down, they were running in the palace's hallway, from Neil's instructions, the vice minister wing isn't that far.
They arrived at the second floor, but they were stopped by a bunch of soldiers and some of them were marines "what is the marine doing here?" Jongho asked standing next to Mingi "Neil, you go ahead and talk to her!!" Hongjoong shouted pushing one soldier off him "we'll go after we are finished here" Yeosang told him, he nodded and ran avoiding the fight.
He immediately entered the room she was in and closed the door behind him, there was a woman in her 50's sitting behind a desk wearing glasses and lifting her white hair in a messy bun "Prince Neil?" She looked at him surprised "Jessica, there's no time to chat, here" he said walking towards her desk and putting the documents on it.
She went through them, she opened her eyes in shock "is this all true?" She asked looking up at him, he nodded and she stood immediately and took her coat, she was about to open the door, but stopped and looked back at him "I'm glad you are back" she said smiling warmly at him.
She opened the door and saw soldiers fighting in the hallway "what is happening here?" She questioned "can you order them to stop? They are fighting my friends" Neil requested and she nodded "stop!!!" She shouted surprising the soldiers "what are you doing? Fighting in the hallway and in front of my office" she scolded them "but my lady, they are pirates" the marine soldier explained "they are my guests" she said glaring at them, they put their weapons down and backed away.
The crew put their weapons back in their places "go and find the prime minister, if he tries to flee, break his legs, and if he tries to fight, break his arms, understood?" She ordered "Roger!!" They shouted and started running.
Hongjoong stood in front of her firmly, he looked at Neil who is behind her, when they locked their eyes, Neil immediately ran beside him "your highness?" She questioned "I'm sorry, I promised not to leave his side until this is over" he explained but she looked at him confused "even if he trusts you, I don't" Hongjoong said glaring at her, she glared back at him "how could you suspect me?" She said angry "I served the Blackbalt family for as long as I can remember, and now you are accusing me of treason?" She said in disbelief and anger "well, the prime minister betrayed them, why can't you?" Yeosang said letting Neil stand behind him.
The tension was rising between them, she looked at Neil "is this your decision?" She asked him worried, he stood firmly hiding his worries "Yes" he told her.
She looked at him for a moment, she saw his father in him, she sighed "then I can't go against it" she told them, Neil sighed in relief and Yeosang patted his head.
They heard footsteps coming towards them, Hongjoong hid Neil behind him getting ready to fight, a few figures were running towards them, they were Seonghwa and the others and a stranger with them.
The stranger was about to attack Hongjoong with his sword when he saw Neil behind him, but Seonghwa blocked him "he's our captain" he said glaring at him and put his sword back in it's place, the man was the same age as the vice minister, he had short white hair and beard and wore a blue suit with medals on it "your highness" he said cheerfully looking at Neil and kneeled in front of him "glad you are back" he said bowing his head "thanks, Marcus" Neil said smiling "I set my soldiers looking for those traitors, especially Captain Jarvis" he told him "great job" he said proudly.
Valerie went to check on Neil with the rest of them "are you hurt?" Yunho asked lifting his arm "your head seems okay" San said looking at his head "there's no cuts on his stomach" Wooyoung said looking under his shirt, but Neil stopped him "he is also clean" Seonghwa said looking at his back "and no broken bones" Valerie said checking his legs.
Jessica and Marcus stood speechless, how could they touch the prince so shamelessly, but she felt relieved when he started laughing "your highness" she said getting their attention "why don't you go and rest?" She suggested "We'll take it over from here" Marcus assured him "I think it's fine" Neil said looking at the crew "can they come with me?" He asked her, she looked warmly at him "if it makes you feel safe, they can" she said.
Neil was so happy "can you get the third floor ready for their stay?" He asked and she nodded "and give the wolves some food" he told them and left with the crew leaving both of them confused with a pack of wolves behind them.
By the break of dawn, the imperial army arrested most of the traitors, including the prime minister and they were sent to the dungeons under the imperial palace, waiting for their trial after the coronation of the prince.
The maids prepared the bath for them to wash, it was a huge room with a big steamy bath in the middle of it, with petals floating on its surface "I'm first!!" Mingi shouted jumping in the water, they followed him "it's so relaxing" Seonghwa said almost melting in the water "I feel new" San said "you sound like an old man" Wooyoung commented earning a splash from San, they started fighting with water "water avatar, attaaaack!!!" San shouted splashing water on Wooyoung and accidentally hit Seonghwa "what is even that?" Wooyoung asked splashing a bigger wave on him "my special move" San said offended.
Yunho was washing the brown colour off Neil's hair, while Hongjoong, Jongho and Yeosang sat next to eachother relaxing "it all went so fast" Jongho said looking up at the crystal chandelier hanging from the white ceiling "yeah" Yeosang agreed "it's wierd how fast it was" he continued "yeah" Hongjoong agreed "it's like something is wrong" he said "can we just relax?" Hongjoong pleaded wanting to relax "I'm just saying to be careful" he said "don't worry, I'm always careful" Hongjoong assured him.
Valerie was in the next room alone, she lifted her hair in bun after washing it and went into the water, she heard the others laughter from the next room "they seem to be having fun" she said to herself closing her eyes relaxing.
Valerie was about to fall asleep when she heard a knock on the door "come in" she said looking behind her, it was a maid, she stood there "your clothes are ready, I put them here" she said putting the clothes on the counter "thanks" she thanked her, she bowed and left.
Valerie stood up to get out of the bath when she felt pain in her head, she dropped on her knees, putting her hands on her head, her vision started to blur, she was about to lose consciousness, She stood up and walked towards the mirror, she looked shocked, one of her eyes was red.
She grabbed her dagger and stabbed her leg immediately, she regained her conscious and her eye turned back to normal, she didn't know what just happened, but sure it wasn't a good thing, the wound on her leg healed, she wore her clothes and went out to find the rest waiting for her "what took you so long?" Hongjoong asked her "I..was just washing my hair" she explained smiling at them "then you should've dried it at least" Seonghwa pointed out, she noticed water dropping from its end "it'll dry on it's own" she told them and started walking ahead of them.
They stayed in the biggest room on the floor, Neil stayed with them because Wooyoung insisted and because of the deal with Hongjoong, the beds were set beside eachother "tomorrow is your coronation, how do you feel?" Yunho asked him curious "nervous, there's still a lot for me to learn" he told them "we'll leave after the trial" Hongjoong told him, he was surprised "can't you stay a little longer? it'd be nice if you stayed for a week" he told them "we can't, the marines are already suspicious that you are hiding pirates" Seonghwa told him, he looked down disappointed "can I still be your friend even after you leave?" He asked looking up at them, they smiled at him "of course you can" Mingi assured him "yeah, you are technically one of us" Wooyoung told him "so don't worry, if you ever want to come aboard, you are always welcomed" Hongjoong told him "thanks".
The next day at 12 pm, Neil had become the emperor, he wore the crown above his head, the crew disguised themselves as citizens so they can see him, the trial was an hour after the coronation, and Neil's first order was to execute the minister and captain Jarvis along with the rest traitors as food for the wolves, he then assigned the vice minister as the prime minister.
There was a long celebration in the ballroom, Neil left it for a moment and went to the garden, he sat there alone looking at the dark sky, he felt relieved "you seem at ease" he heard a voice from behind that gave him chills, he stood up en guard, he took out his sword "how did you escape?" He asked pointing his sword at the ex-prime minister "it doesn't matter, what matter is that this crown should've been mine" he said angry getting closer, he wore a dirty shirt and teared pants, but he had a gun on his waist.
Neil looked around for soldiers, but there was no one around, and the crew is probably gone by now "there's no one to protect you now" he said pointing the gun at him "you won't gain anything even if you shot me" Neil said glaring at him "I don't care, as long as I'm taking you with me" he said and Neil closed his eyes.
A shot was heard from the garden.